O'Connor wins Plymouth-Norfolk Senate seat

Wednesday

WEYMOUTH — Republican state Sen. Patrick O’Connor of Weymouth declared victory Tuesday night over two challengers, securing his second full term in the state Senate.

O'Connor faced off against Democrat Katie McBrine, a Scituate pediatrician who lives in Hingham, and Independent Stephen Gill, a Navy veteran and attorney from Marshfield.

As of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, O'Connor had taken almost 52 percent of the vote, with all towns in his district except Duxbury and Hull reporting. McBrine won 43 percent of the votes, followed by Gill with 5 percent.

"I plan to continue to work with everyone in the district to produce results, because there are a lot of good things happening on the South Shore, and I'm honored to be a part of it," O'Connor said during his victory party at the Mad Hatter in Weymouth. "People showed up and had their voices heard, and it makes it all worthwhile."

The Plymouth-Norfolk district includes Weymouth, Scituate, Marshfield, Hingham, Hull, Cohasset, Norwell and Duxbury.

McBrine, 39, of Hingham, grew up on the south side of Chicago and works as a pediatrician at Scituate Pediatrics. She said she ran because health care is one of the state and country’s biggest problems, and the Legislature could use the experience and knowledge of physicians to fix the system.

Gill, 50, ran as a Republican in the April 2016 special primary election to fill the senate seat long held by Republican Robert Hedlund of Weymouth, who resigned before the end of his term to be sworn in as Weymouth mayor. Gill lost to O’Connor, 34, a long-time Weymouth town councilor who went on to win the special election in May and the general election six months later.

In what is a "loud national atmosphere," O'Connor said, voters in the district care less about party politics and more about proven results.

"It's about working with people to provide solutions to their problems," he said.

O’Connor raised more than $49,000 between Aug. 18 and Oct. 19, matching the more than $49,000 balance he already had in his coffers, according to a pre-election report filed with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. O’Connor spent nearly $23,000 during the same period, leaving him with a balance of almost $76,000. In-kind contributions totaled about $39,000 and he has $19,500 in outstanding liabilities.

McBrine – who had been neck-to-neck with O’Connor in fundraising – raised about $20,000 between Aug. 18 and Oct. 19. With a balance of nearly $26,000, that brought her total to about $46,000. McBrine spent more than $32,000 in the last two months, leaving her with a balance of less than $14,000. Her in-kind contributions total $38.50 and she has no outstanding liabilities.